Apr. 1 – Signaling strong growth for the Indian economy, exports in February expanded by an impressive 34 percent to US$16.09 billion.
Exports grew for the fourth month in a row. In January, exports increased by 11.5 percent to US$14.34 billion. On the other hand, imports amounted to US$25 billion in February, an increase of 66 percent.
Engineering goods, textiles, jute, carpets, handicrafts and leather continue to suffer from depressed demand brought by the global financial crisis. To further push growth, the government recently released new incentives for garments, engineering, electronics and agricultural products sold in specific overseas markets.
Apparel exporters are eligible for incentives for the European and American market while electronic goods exporters will get incentives for 15 countries. Agricultural producers will get incentives for exports to Nigeria, Algeria and Mexico.
India’s director general of foreign trade R.S. Gujaral told The Economic Times that despite export growth in the past four months, exports were still 11 percent lower over the same period in the previous fiscal.
